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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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F 880 
.B43 

Copy 1 IK SPEECH 



OP 



ME. J.' F. BELL, OF KENTUCKY, 



ON 



THE OREGON QUESTION, 



DELIVERED 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, 



February 4,1846. 



h 



WASHINGTON: 

J. ft G. S. GIDEON, PRINTERS. 

1646. 



SPEECH. 



The resolution reported by the Committee on Foreign Affairs directing notice of twelve months 
to be given to terminate the Convention with Great Britain tor the Joint occupation of Oregon, being 
under consideration in Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union — 

Mr. BELL, of Kentucky, having obtained the floor, on his suggestion the House ad- 
journed. On the meeting of the House next day, Mr. B. commenced by returning 
his profoundest acknowledgments to the Committee of the Whole House for its cour- 
tesy in rising yesterday, and indulging him with the possession of the floor this morn- 
ing. He said he would endeavor to compensate the committee for their kindness by 
the brevity of his remarks, by the almost brevity compatible with an explicit expres- 
sion of his opinion on this most important subject. For (said Mr. B.) this is a subject 
of greatest consequence — of an importance which justly caus^es it to rise above all lo- 
cal and sectional interests — above all factious and party considerations. It involves di- 
rectly in its discussion the acquisition, or rattier retention, of a large extent of valuable 
territory; and upon our action here depend, in some measure, peace and war. The in- 
terest felt upon it, and upon our action, is widespread — nay, sir, it is universal. It is 
felt here by us who participate in this discussion, and by our constituents at home; and 
the probability of a war between England and the United States, the two greatest nations 
of the earth, awakens the anxious expectation of the world; and already have the questions 
which arise from this subject been announced upon the continent of Europe, and by the 
British minister, as the most momentous which can now or hereafter affect the relations 
•of civilized nations. And, therefore, questions such as this, should be approached in 
the spirit of patriotism rather than of party; in that comprehensive and catholic spirit 
which looks not to a section or State, but to the whole country, and to its vast and di- 
versified interests as a unit. It is to me a subject of rejoicing, and to the country one 
of congratulation, that in this spirit, thus far, with few exceptions, has this debate pro- 
gressed. All candid men will admit, and none but the bigots of party will deny, that 
great national questions, which relate directly to our foreign intercourse, should ever be 
kept aloof from those which refer to the administration of home afl'airs. The strifes 
which the latter engender are sufficiently embittered without the addition of the other, 
which only add intensity to the bitterness, and fierceness to the strife, and are calculated 
to prevent an enlightened and patriotic judgment on both. 

And the difficulties which now unfortunately surround this subject have their origin 
in that "disastrous conjunction" of domestic and foreign policy, which, for party pur- 
poses, was made at the Baltimore convention', during the year 1844, by the wise meti 
there assembled to promulgate the true democratic faith. Yes, sir, if this question had 
been raised by the people themselves, rather than by the restless agitators who were 
there gathered together to give direction to the political current, that they miffht float to 
office and to power; if Oregon, " the whole of Oregon or none," had not been made 
*' the battle-cry" in the late Presidential election, many of the embarrassments which 
now surround the negotiations on this subject would not exist. 

But that august assemblage announced to the world, in orft of its oracular resolutions 
— Oracular at least in the cunningly devised duplicity of its language — that our title to 
the whole of Oregon was clear, and pledged its members, and the power of the whole 
party, to the re-occupation of Oregon, and the re-annexation of Texas, at the earliest 
practicable period. Permit me to remark, in passin?, that the short syllable re has, 
according to democratic construction, a remarkable magic, for no other word would suit 
but the re-annexation of Texas, which had never been annexed, and nothing but re-oc- 
cupation of Oresfon, from the occupancy of which we never have been displaced. 

The President of the United States, regarding the resolution of the convention as a 
letter of instructions, in his Inaugural address, endorsed the opinion that our tide to 
the whole ol Oregon was clear and indisputable; and not gifted with powers of casuis- 



Iry equal to some of the members of this House, who were also members of that con- 
vention, he supposes that the present is the earliest practicable period for the accom- 
plishment of the desired re-occupation of Oregon ; whilst those members who thought 
that the re-annexa/to;^ of Texas meant immediately, ?/ nof sooner, suppose the re- 
occupation of Oregon means a year or two years hence, or never, according to the par- 
ticular opinion of each individual. And the difference of interpretation to the same 
language has given rise to some appeals to party on this floor, which are calculated to 
excite merriment. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Wentworth) has appealed to 
the members of the democratic party, who are disposed to oppose the passage of the re- 
solution giving notice, by the recollection of their common association and cordial 
union at Baltimore, and by the still stronger and more urgent demand of a compliance 
"With the terms of what, by implication, he asserts was a compact between 'the friends 
of Texas and Oregon, and by the assurance that the Northern and Western democracy 
have fulfilled their part, and voted (gone it blind, to borrow the gentleman's language,) 
iox Texas, and that now is the time for the Southern democracy to pay up, and go for 
Oregon. Other members of the democratic party on this floor are inclined to read out 
of the democratic church those who supported the nominee of the Baltimore conven- 
tion; but now, having elected him, are disposed to vote against the notice, which he 
recommends as one of the necessary steps to the re-occupation of Oregon. 

With the harmonizing of these family quarrels I have nothing to do, or with the reading 
out of the democratic church its recreant and contumacious members ; but protest 
against all those being read into that church, who advocate the notice. It is to 
me a matter of rejoicing that the Whigs on this floor are permitted, on this great 
national question, to follow the dictates of duty, the suggestions of patriotism, unaffect- 
ed by the open and influential dictation of party conventions, or the no less powerful, 
though more secret, appliances of cliques and caucuses. 

It is a useless consumption of time, at this late day of the debate, to detain the com- 
mittee with a discussion of the title to Oregon — various sources of title are supposed to 
exist, but I will not go into them ; I will not go into a technical construction of trea- 
ties between Spain and England to ascertain their actual or legal meaning; nor into the 
grant by the " British kings, to the early and adventurous colonists, which gave the 
right to conquer and colonize from sea to sea;" nor examine the claim from continuity 
and contiguity of territory; nor of the claim resulting Irom the genius and spirit of our 
people, and the eternal laws of nature; nor from " the manifest destiny of the repub- 
lic;" nor from our power to whip England, and, by force of our own swords, take and 
maintain Oregon. 

AU these have been relied on with great earnestness and confidence ; but most of 
them are so indefinite, that the time may yet come when our claim may settle down on 
the two last named. Destiny and Power, and they become important links in the stron^^ 
ciiain which binds Oregon to us. For the history of the world, from the earliest estab- 
lishment of empires among men, proves, that when contigumis territory is necessary ta 
the general, political, or commercial welfare of a particular people, and they have the 
power to take and keep it, its acquisition becomes a matter of "manifest destiny ;" it is 
not always right, tor it is sometimes the "manifest destiny" of nations to do wrong. 

It is not necessary, to the discussion of the issues which legitimately arise in this de- 
bate, to define precisely how much of Oregon our title covers-^whether from the 42d 
parallel of north latitude fo 49^ 51' 54% or 61st degree of same latitude, all these differ- 
ent degrees having been assumed, by difierent speakers, as the correct boundaries. It 
is only necessary to say, that the adjustment and settlement of a boundary is emphati- 
cally the subject of negotiation — not of legislation — and falls peculiarly within the pro- 
vince of the President and Senate, as the treaty-making power, and not of Congress, 
: the law-making power. And, on great questions like this, each department must act 
.' within the particular limits prescribed by the Constitution ; each under a sense of its 
own responsibilities. And, as the President has not asked from Congress any expres- 
sion of opinion as to what should be the true boundary line, but only asked for notice 
to terminate the treaty, which latter, the giving of the notice, I hold belongs to the law- 



5 

making, in common with the treaty-making, power, it is right that we confine ourselves 
to the record, and act only on the subject suggested by the President, as on that only he 
wants light. 

It is not necessary, now, to estimate the precise importance of the territory to the 
United States, either in a social, politi>-'al, or commercial point of view, although, on 
this view, I had desired to offer some remarks; but, pursuant to my pledge of brevity, 
I will proceed at once to the discussion of the propriety of giving ©r withholding the 
notice recommended by the Committee of Foreign Affairs. 

■ As preliminary, it may be taken as true that all American statesmen believe that our 
title to Oregon, from the i2d to the 49th parallel of north latitude, is clear, and. beyond 
question, better than that of England ; and, as to that part between 49, and the Russian 
line 54° 40', our own statesmen iiave differed, some supposing England's best — others 
ours, and others that neither had a perfect tide. It is true that both England and the 
United States now assert, and have always asserted, title to the whole of Oregon. And, 
in 1818, when the popular mind in both countries had not quieted down from the high 
excitement occasioned by the late war, they, after an unsuccessful effort to compromise 
their conflicting claims, in the spirit of peace, and for the purpose of removing all sub- 
ject of contention likely to perpetuate the then existing feeling of exasperation, in a 
treaty signed on the 20th October, in that year, agreed that all Oregon, with its harbors, 
bays, creeks, and navigation of its rivers, should be free and open, for ten years there- 
after, to vessels, citizens, and subjects of both Governments; and, just beibre the ex- 
piration of the ten years, the two Governments, by another treaty, agreed that the first 
treaty, should be further indefinitely extended, and continued in force till one should 
give the other due notice of twelve months of a desire to annul and abrogate the treaty. 
Neither having given the notice the treaties are in full force; and all statesmen, without 
regard to party, who respect the faith of treaties, who would preserve unsullied the na- 
tional honor, concede it as a question too plain for argument, that no step can be taken 
by us to the exclusive possession of the country till we have given the notice required 
-by t)ur most solemn and long respected treaties. 

All, or nearly all, on this floor regard Oregon of great prospective value to us; and I, 
for* one, do not under-estimate it ; but, look upon it as that, upon whose possession or 
.loss depends the loss or gain of the commerce of the East; a commerce whose 
munificent rewards and wealth are not within the reach of present calculations. 

Mr. Chairman, differ as we may and do on many subjects, yet on this we all, to some 
extent, occupy common ground. Differ as we may, as to the mode of obtaining the de- 
sired end, yet we do not differ in our common desire of obtaining, or rather retaining, 
Oregon, and that, too, honorably, and without an appeal to the fearful arbitrament of the 
sword. The only question is how can this which should, and I doubt not is, the anxious 
desire of every man on this ffoor, be accomplished ? Gentlemen who have expressed 
their sentiments here may be classified as those who are for action ; those who are for 
inaction ; those who are for assuming open ground, and giving the notice to annul the 
treaty as to the joint occupation of Oregon ; those who are against all forms of notice, 
but who say that our people ought to "be encouraged to visit and settle the territory. 
Thus, in fact, taking possession of Oregon under the implied sanction of the Govern- 
ment — keeping the treaty to the letter, but breaking it to the faith. This policv wears, 
to my mind, the aspect of weakness, duplicity, and cowardice; and its practice will result 
in war, whose disasters and horrors w ill not be lessened by its being dishonorabh war. 

Believing that procrastination is not likely to advance our claim to the territory, but 
that our delay is strengthening: British tide, and is involving this whole subject in em-' 
barrassments, complicated and numerous, and which may termina'e in the loss ot Oregon 
and will result in war, I, for one, am for action. I am for giving the notice, not in the 
language of the braggart or the bravo, affecting neither to fear or care for tlie hazards 
rand evils of war, but in languaire mild and courteous, yet manly and firm, expressing 
the determination to abrogate the treaty, coupled with an expression of opinion that the 
confficting claims of the two Governments should be selUed by honorable negotiation. 
The notice should be given, not as a war, but emphatically as aprace, measure. 



6 

In the spirit of perfect justice, we should assert title to no more of Oregon than that 
which can be maintained by arg^ument, and for the propriety of which we can appeal to 
God and man, and which we are willing, if need be, to referto the decision of the sword. 
Like a wise and sensible farmer, who anticipates the possibility of a long and vexatious 
law-suit with a neighbor, in relation to a doubtful or disputed boundary between ad- 
joining farms, we should plant our fence clearly within our own lands, so that when 
the hour of trial comes we can make our right manifest. Upon a question like this, 
on whose momentous issues hang the world's peace and all its blessings, or a war, the 
clash of whose conflicts, the din of whose disastrous battles would be heard throughout the • 
world, if our rulers were like political managers in a canvass, or hucksters in the markets, 
either to advance the interests of themselves or to secure a good bargain, to assert claim 
to more of the territory than was clear, they would deserve, and they would receive, the 
indignation and scorn of all good men, for conduct whose infamy could only be equalled 
by treason itself. 

The question, then, presents itself, which of the forms of notice shall we take — that 
proposed by the Committee of Foreign Affairs, or that by the gendeman from Alabama, 
(Mr. HiLLiARD,) which proposes to confer on the President discretionary power of 
giving or not the notice ; that suggested by the gentleman from Connecticut, (Mr. Rock- 
well,) or that by the gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. King ;) or any of the various 
amendments and propositions which have fallen so numerously and rapidly on the 
clerk's table, that ii is difficult to keep their count, much less by name designate them. 

The ground has been taken by some that no notice whatever ought to be given by 
this House, because it is said Congress has no constitutional power so to do, and such 
acts belong exclusivelv to those departments of the (Tovernment clothed by the Consti- 
tution with power to make treaties. Plausible as is this view, and laken, as it has been, 
"by some very able gentlemen, it appears to me specious rather than true, cautious rather 
than correct. All that England has a right to require, is the will of the people of this- 
nation, who are its sovereigns, expressed through some reliable and organized body ;. 
and, whenever that will is so expressed, whether through the Executive, or President 
and Senate, under their treaty-making power, or Congress, as the power representative 
of the whole people, England would have no right to refuse the notice because it was 
not constitutionally given. I am satisfied that, if the President of the United States 
were upon his own responsibility to give this notice. Great Britain could not raise the 
question of constitutional power. No, sir; as the chief executive officer of the nation,, 
the only functionary through whom our intercourse with foreign nations can be con- 
ducted, as the representative of the people, whose voice is the concentrated expression, 
of twenty millions of freemen, a notice given by him would not, could not, be question- 
ed by any foreign government. The President has not thus chosen to act. I will not 
say that he ought so to have acted. He lias appealed to Congress for the exercise of its 
power in giving this notice — for this body, which directly reflects and represents the 
interests and wishes of the people, who are to be the sufferers or gainers by our wise 
or unwise action, who are to be blessed with peace or cursed with war, and who are to 
leap the profits of that peace, or bear the heavy expenditure of money and blood of that 
wa.r, we ought not now to shrink from an expression of opinion as lo the best mode of 
extricating the Government from the difficulties and penis which embarrass it. 

And, though those difficulties and perils ha\;e resulted from the unwise action of the 
President and his party leaders, and, religiously, I believe they are chargeable with it,., 
yet we should not, who are Whigs, refuse to pursue the dictates of patriotism; but,, 
forgetting party in the loftier considerations of duly to the country, we should now not 
so much enquire how the dangers have been produced, but do they exist, and how shall, 
they be most honorably avoided or successfully met. I do not doubt that gentlemen, 
who have thought the opposite course as best, have been governed by patriotic consider- 
ations, but dilTer witli them in their sense of present duty, j ^/,'jj,, 

That this Oregon question is now involved in difficulties tha.t never before beset 
it, that those difficulties have been produced by the would-be leaders, but, in fact, wire 
ivorkersj of the Democratic party, is periectly clear. Sir, the forcing this question of 



Oregon and Texas into an unnatural coalition with those of a bank and a tariff, its 
being, without reference to consequences, urged into the Presidential canvass, have 
gready embairassed the negotiations of our Government. That miscellaneous assem- 
blage of geademen and patriots, known as the Baltimore Convention, the fruit of whose 
labors was the nomination of Mr. Polk and the passage of the Oregon resolution^ 
who met for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the Presidency, and the procla- 
mation of the principles on which that nominee was to be elected; instead of confining 
themselves to principles which relate to the domestic administraiion of our Govern- 
ment, unibrlunately for the country took its foreign policy under consideration, and an- 
nounced the remarkable resolution which I have before mentioned. They threw a new 
element of strife into tlie party contest, and gave beginning to these very difficulties 
which now beset us, and wliose termination tlie most sagacious cannot foresee. The 
President, feeling himself instructed by the resolution, announced, in his inaugural ad- 
dress, that our title to Oregon was clear and indisputable. His officious, if n t official, 
organ — and, perhaps, both officious and official — reasserted tlie same ; and though the 
President, in the mean lime, had offered to compromise by a surrender of part of the 
territory — all north of the 49th parrallel — on its rejection, broke of}' all negotiation, 
and in his annual message to Congress reaffirms our title to be good to the whole, and 
declares that he believes no compromise which the United States ought to accept 
can be effected, advises the giving of the notice to terminate the Convention, and says 
that at the end of the year's notice we sliall have reached a period when the national 
" rights in Oregon must either be abandoned or firmly maintained, and that they could 
not be abandoned without a sacrifice of both national honor and interest." 

This language and this tone, Mr. Chairman, of the President, adds another difficulty 
in the way of giving this notice, because the President seems to regard it as one of a 
set of war measures. He either intends to bully or fight, and he has tiuis brought thi» 
whole matter to a crisis ; and in a crisis like this the people's representatives are, by 
their peculiar relation to the people, particularly called on to express their conviction as 
to the course to be pursued ; and the Whigs on this floor, from the fact that they are 
trammelled by no party dictation, committed by no Baltimore resolution, are in the po- 
sition to act calmly and patriotically. I trust, nay, I know, they will give the Presi lent 
no factious opposition, but will unite with his friends, and give the notice which he 
asks. We have gone too far to retrace our st^s with honor. Safety is only in ad- 
vance. But, under a sense of all the responsibilties which now surround Congress, I 
hope, it wUl lake only such steps as are perfect^ right, and make no advance but that 
which it will be able to maintain before Cliristenloin, and to the maintenance of whicL 
we can pledge the honor of the people and po\^r of the nation. And, having deter- 
mined to bring this long pending controversy to k close, we should take our ground, 
step by step, peaceably, yet bravely ; and, in making our idtimatum, it should be that,, 
not of the President, nolof politicians, but of the wliole American people, which they 
would maintain by sword and battle. 

I answer the question what sort of notice shall be given, by saying, that the notice 
which }i)ay be given, should be qualified by the expression of opinion, that the whole 
matter of difficulty should be adjusted by negotiation ; that it can be so adjusted, and 
honorably, I cannot doubt. My only reason for preferring some modification, such as 
suggested above, is, that the naked notice, as reported by the Cominittee of Foreign 
Affairs, looked uponas one of that series of measures recommended by tlje President and 
which may terminate in war, has a warlike aspect; and though assured by its, friends on 
this floor that its purpose is peaceful, yet the very fact lliat this purpose is the subject 
of debate, even among the friends of llie Administration themselves, proves its ques- 
tionable diaracter. And, sir, like the ghost in Hamlet, it is difficult, to say whdher it be 

', " An angel of hof.lth, or w-oblin daraned — . • S '. ■' 

Bnug with ifairs iVoiu heavpu, or blasts from hell." 

-On a question like this our position should not be debateable — should not be the sub- 
ject of a doubt — it should be pacific, manly, and firm.- 

It is objected iurlhcr, Mr. Chairman, tliat if notice be given it will produce war. It is not 



probable that any notice in ilselfwiW produce war. But mucH will depend on the in- 
tention with which it is given, and that intention must be gathered from its tone and 
language, and from the Executive and Legislative acts which have preceded and will 
succeed it. If this Government intend it as a challenge — if it be flung as a gage of battle 
at the 'foot of a haughty and a hated foe, in the same temper will it be lifted. If it be 
the blast of the trumpet which summons to the field of honor and of mortal fight, then 
will the answering defiance be heard, and the armed foeman cannot avoid the lists. 
The shock of the conflict will be inevitable. If, on the other hand, we intend this no- 
tice as only the more earnest and anxious expression of our desire for the amicable and 
honorable adjustment of this long protracted controversy, now perilous' to the peace, 
prejudicial to the interests, of both Governments, and every day becoming more compli- 
cated and more perilous, in a corresponding spirit will we be met, and peace be its re- 
sult. It is right that we should make it in its face and form, as it professes to be in its 
design and purpose, a peace measure. Peace is a blessing of such inestimable value — 
war is a curse of such infinite evil — that the one should be cherished and cultivated, the 
other be shunned and avoided, by all honorable means. Sir, we all profess a desire for 
peace; it is the condition necessary to the welfare of the Republic — to the development 
of its vast and various resources — necessary to the successful prosecution of its com- 
merce, its agriculture, and its manufactures. It is that which has so benefitted and 
blessed us, which, like the dews and sunshine, has fallen upon our land, and "clothed 
it with beauty as with a garment." And that statesman, now, who by his rash and in- 
considerate, much less his reckless and wilful action, breaks that peace, will deserve, 
and receive, the curses of God and man. It should be the habitual policy of this Gov- 
ernment to cultivate peace with all nations; as a matter of principle to avoid war, with 
the weak as well as the strong. We should not seek it with the weakest and most de- 
pressed of the nations, with even the down-trodden and impotent Mexican. His very 
weakness should be thoj guarantee of our justice, his inability to avenge a wrong the 
surest appeal to our magnanimity, and the strongest assurance that we would not, we 
could not, insult, much less strike him. 

.The firm and conscientious conviction of the correctness of this policy constituted 
one of the reasons which led me to oppose the immediate annexation of Texas, she 
then being in a state of war with Mexico. I apprehend that it might result in the an- 
nexation of war; and though the war was not to be a dangerous one, or very bloody, 
yet it was to be an unnecessary onejk But permit me to say, Mr. Chairman, that, 
from the passage of the joint resolutiorAy Congress, and its acceptance by Texas, the 
whole question was changed ; a contract was made by our Government with Texas, 
and, by every consideration of honor Ive should have fulfilled that contract, and at 
every hazard. Nothing but dangerols and protracted illness prevented me from 
voting for the bill, which in fact admitted! Texas into this Union, for I do not feel to- 
wards her as the gAitleman from New York, (Mr. Culver,) who addressed the com- 
mittee last nisfht, who remarked, he did not regard her as a sister legitimately born into 
the family, and therefore he did not cordially receive her. I feel for her the kind- 
liest sympathy, and welcome her into the family circle as one of the sisterhood of States, 
henceforth entitled, with the others, to an equal participation in the blessings and 
protection of the great family dwelling. In the same policy I would have the Govern- 
ment to avoid war with Enffland, not from the motives and considerations which some 
gentlemen have so forcibly referred to ; not because, as some have said, we are weak 
and she strong — because we are defenceless and she armed at all points, and exhaust- 
less in the munitions of war; not because, as some gentlemen have said, that her 
Island Queen sits throned upon an empire whose shadow covers the world ; not be- 
cause her proud flag, in the day of battle, will be upheld by well appointed and invincible 
veterans ; not because her war steamers and her well built and countless ships of the 
line upon the wing of the wind and wing of the flame shall cover the ocean, and sweep 
every sea with their destructive and irresistible fire. But I would avoid war with Great 
Britain, because we have not resorted to all proper and honorable means for an amica- 
ble adjustment of the controversy, and therefore war must be deemed unnecessary, and 



9, 

consequently highly criminal. And much as that territory is worth to us — and were it 
worth ten times told the wealth of the Indies — its vakie is still not so oreat that it 
should be retained at the heavy and inordinate expense of reckless and unnecessary 
war, the crime of wholesale murder, which the world's wealth could not expiate, or 
the world of waters wash away. We should not scruple to modify the notice in 'the 
manner indicated, when no evil can result from it; and all admit there is nothing dig. 
honorable, nothing humiliating in it. 

I have said that the intention of this notice will be gathered from, and the controversy 
of war and peace depend, to some extent, on the subsequent action of Congress; and 
as one of the measures which may so afl'ect the notice and the whole subject, the bill 
introduced by the Committee on Territories stands first and foremost, particularly 
conspicuous in obnoxious objections. The draughtsman of the bill, and chairman of 
the committee, (Mr. Douglass,) was in remarkable haste in the introduction of this bill; 
and doubdess some of its manifold imperfections are attributable to the great and unne- 
cessary haste in its preparation. And the gendeman himself, after the subsidence of 
zealous and fiery haste, has withdrawn the bill for the amendment and corrections of 
"second sober thoughts." But as I do not purpose here debating that, I shall only 
allude to its defects. I do not hesitate to declare, if that bill passes in its present shape, it 
cannot but be regarded as a cause of instant war. It would be a violation of the treaty, for 
it asserts title, by boundary, to the Avhole of Oregon ; it grants lands in any part of the 
territory, on the north as well as south side of the 49th parallel, in the very centre of 
the disputed and debatable land that lies between the 49 and 54 40 parallel, and pledges 
the honor and whole power of the nation to make good the grant; it establishes blockhouses, 
forts, and stockades ; and this bill, or another on your table, provides for raising the men 
who are to garrison these forts, stockades, and blockades ; thus, in itself, before notice 
is given, taking, in violation of the letter and spirit of the treaty, exclusive possessioa 
of the whole country, and shutting out all hopes of a compromise of our claims to 
Oregon, and must involve us in war. Suppose, however, the notice be given, such as 
I have contended for, and be unaffected by any rash action on our part, what possible 
pretext, what ground for war ? The treaty itself, as has been often remarked, provides 
for the notice, and could give no just reason, or even excuse, to Great Britain, for war. 
If, however, she were to take off'ence, why, we being in the right before, let the guilt 
and consequences of a war be on her head. 

The reasons which have produced conviction on my mind, that, if the notice were 
given, we will not have war, are briefly : 

The inconsiderable amount of territory which is now in real dispute, our Government 
has four times substantially proposed to England to setde, by taking, as our northern 
boundary, the 49th parallel — England has four times substantially offered to compro- 
mise, and take, as her southern boundary, the 49th parallel, till it struck the Columbia 
river, and thence down the river to its mouth, in about 46th parallel. Thus, it may 
fairly be inferred, tf»e country between the Columbia and 49th parallel is, in fact, only 
the subject of controversy. It is impossible to suppose that two such mighty empires 
can, in this day of Christian influence and enlightened feeling, be brought into conflict 
for a territory, compared to Uie losses which each would sustain in the conflict, of insig- 
nificant value. And I must say that, for one, I estimate highly, in producing and pre- 
serving the peace of the world, the influence of the Christian religion — an influence 
which, though not seen on the throne, yet is above the throne ; which is not audible 
about the high places of the earth, but which, with its inaudible and potent spell, sur- 
rounds the rulers of the earth, and gives direction to their courses. It would be a re- ■ 
flection on our common religion to suppose that two such nations as England and Ame- 
rica, the bulwarks of Christendom, should fight for cause so small as that in controversy 
between them. 

Again, sir, nations do not go to war now with the same ease and readiness they did 
in times past. The habits of peace multiply interests in favor of its continuance, and 
beget the desire for its perpetuation. England, and we ourselves, have been aflfected 
in the same way. She is not so warlike as she once was. AVith a change of interes. 



10 

there is a change of policy. Once, owing to her insular position, England regarded 
conquest as necessary to extend her dominion, and increase her rank and influence 
among continental nations. Tlien chivalry was her spirit, and proudly and bravely did 
she manifest it — war her policy, and fiercely and successfully did she pursue it. Her 
bold barons and stout men-at-arms, in hard fought fields, added conquest to conquest, 
till her flag floated over a larger territory than that of any power on earth. But com- 
merce and manufactures are the sources of her Avealth, and the means of her power; 
and peace is necessary for their prosperity, and she carefully preserves it. England of 
the nineteenth century is not England of the 16th century. The England ruled by the 
Guelphs is not England ruled by the fiery Plantagenets, the haughty Tudors, or the 
stern and uncompromising Protector. England, commercial and manufacturing, is not 
England, feudal and chivalrous. Her interest being in peace, she will not rashly go to 
war. By your gasconading on this floor — by insults in diplomacy, you may, if you 
want a fight, obtain it; for England, like ourselves, holds such relation to the world, 
she cannot safely, without risk of her own destruction, have her power to avenge insult, 
and right wrong, made the subject of doubt. By bravado and menace — by the exhibi- 
tion of an exacting spirit, we may place her in such condition, that she may have to 
forego all the benefits of peace, and hazard all the evils and losses of war ; for Eng- 
land has not lost all the feeling which once led her soldiers to the field. The great 
men who rule a country, are almost always the types of its people; and you see in two 
of her prominent rulers the fair representation of the feelings of the English people. 
Sir Robert Peel, nominally connected with the Tory party, is yet the idolized defender 
of the commercial and manufacturing classes. He is cool, sagacious, and pacific; and,.'.^ 
in English, politics stand in bold and conspicuous relief, and gives the strongest assur--.;^"; 
ance of peace. In grim repose, and behind him, however, stands the hero of Waterloo, 
ready, if English honor be assailed, or if we force the fight, to lend his iron arm and 
iron nerve to enforce the resolves of Parliament. I am one of those who would 
not recklessly provoke the war, but still I am among that number who think, that if 
war come, we can, as in times past, again maintain the honor and interests 
of the republic against all the power of the English monarchy, led by the iron' 
Duke himself. All I purpose saying is, that England has too many interests dej)end- 
ant on peace, and particularly peace with us, lightly to break it ; and it will not be 
broken, unless the designing or reckless bluster of braggarts and demagogues force the 
strife. The predictions which some gentlemen have made on this floor have been, 
amusingly falsified during this debate. Those genflemen who were so fortunate as to 
get the floor soon after the discussion opened, and were opposed to notice, made the 
most violent appeals to our fears, based on the most confident predictions, that any ac- 
tion by Congress, and that the very recommendation of notice in the message, would 
result in instant war, and the then expected English steamer would bring the starfling 
intelligence that England had instantly, to the whole world, made proclamation of her 
wrongs and of her preparation for battle. But that steamer came, and the news is, that 
England is more than usualh^ pacific. I never participated in those fears, or believed 
those predictions ; I knew she wanted the repeal of your tariff, which fosters and pro- 
tects your own people, and gives impulse and continued progression to the prosperity 
of this country. She wanted your mechanics, your manufacturers, your laborers, your 
farmers, made tributary to her; and she well knew this only could be done by the repeal 
of your tariff", to obtain which, and the assurance of its never being re-enacted, she would 
give you all Oregon and Canada to boot, and then make a good bargain. And, sir, the 
President in this same message, which recommends notice, also advises and insists on 
the repeal of the tarifT. Thus, thougli one part of the advice might be calculated to ex- 
cite, the other part was to soothe ; and the prospect of the speedy destruction of our 
tarifl", a consummation by her most devoutly to be wished, keeps her in a state of al- 
most perfect quiet. There is too niueli reaF.on to fear, Mr. Chainnan, that some sort of 
a trade is about to be made by the British Government and tins Government, in wiiich 
the settlement of the Oregon question is to be the price for the repeal of the tariff". 
The union of these questions would be exceedingly unfortunate ; each ought to rest oa 



11 

its own merits, and be determined accordingly. I have referred to this to show that 
England is watching the mterests of her manufactures, and is willing to sacrifice terri- 
tory to maintain them. 

Again, sir, the extent of her commerce and her inability to protect it will prevent Eng- 
land from rashly going to war; numerous as are her ships of battle, yet her ships, 
freighted with rich cargoes, are still more numerous, and comparatively unprotected ; 
she, always sagacious, knows that the first gun which is fired in this war will be the 
signal to call the eagles to the carcase, and proclaim a richer harvest to the privateers 
and pirates than ever before was yielded to the reapers of the seas. Those nations who 
have long hated England for her naval and commercial supremacy, (never disputed but 
by us,) would then feel that, like Shylock, having a hated enemy on the hip, right 
greedily and fully would they feed their ancient grudge. 

But, sir, gentlemen who have argued against notice, upon the ground that it would 
produce war, have continued to dwell on the power of Great Britain and of our weak- 
ness ; they look only on one side of the picture. Powerful as she is, yet in the midst 
of that power are the elements of weakness ; and our want of preparation for war, w^hich 
gentlemen have said was our weakness, is the very condition which gives us ultimate- 
strength. Why, if we were fully prepared for war, if we had a large standing army^ 
(independent of the discontents produced by increased taxation to support it, and the 
dangers from its force being turned upon ourselves,) consciousness of that power might 
beget arrogance and rapacity, and it might be we should then be too ready to listen to 
th^valorous suggestions of the gentlemen who have declared that they never would be 
satisfied whilst any other nation held a foot of territory on the American continent : and 
our armies, now under the lead of the high spirited and gallant gentlemen from Illinois 
and Michigan might be engaged in a crusade, re-annexing and re-occupying all the 
territory on the American continent, driving all othei nations from its possession, and, 
to borrow the beautiful language so common in this debaie, "planting the Americanea- 
gle over every foot of soil from Terra del Fuego to the North Pole. But, sir, seriously, 
for defensive war we are always sufhciently strong to maintain our honor against the- 
world in arms. For offensive war, we can never, till war comes, be prepared. But 
England has dangers, commercial and political, internal and external, which greatly 
weaken her. (It being announced to me tiial 1 have only six minutes left of my hour, 
1 can only glance at them.) Her proximity to the continent of Europe, that spirit now 
at work there, the dangers to the old monarchies consequent on the death of the King of 
the French, whenever it may happen, and according to the course of nature in a few 
years, the discontent at home, her enormous public debt and i's incidental evils, the rest- 
less agitation of Irish repeal and Irish emancipation, our proximity to the Canadas, all 
suggest dangers to English rulers sufficient to make them desire a war, least of all with 
the United States ; for much as she might injure us, it is not more than we could her. 
All must admit that each on the other could inflict incalculable evil. 

Again, there is no honor involved in our maintaining our rights up to 54 40; none 
in Great Britain maintaining hers up to the mouth of the Columbia river. If it were a 
question of honor, then it were useless to urge compromise to the people of the United 
States, on whom "dishonor's breath would light as the whirlwind on the waters." But our 
most sagacious diplomatists have ofl'ered a compromise. Mr. Polk himself has ofiered 
compromise. England has done the same. We differ only as to the terms of compro- 
mise. Our ablest statesmen, in the most cunningly contrived arguments on our title, 
have never been willing to claim as their "ultimatum" all die country up to 54 40. 
Now, surely, gentlemen will not contend that the people, who are to pay the taxes, and 
bear the buidens, and tigiit the battles of the war, are to light for that which the diplo- 
matist in his argument has never contiMided lor, and the President oilered to give up. 
It has been said by some of the most fiery of the genUeraen, that our title is good to 54 
40, and that then, it being a question of riglil, there should be no calculation of consequen- 
ces, no compromise; and if war comes, let it comii. There is uo sensible, prudent man, 
in his private affairs, governed by argument so simple, by reasoning so foolish.^ That 
man who in private life contends for every thing which is his, and has it, or has a law 



18.1 

suit for it, soon is hated by his neighbors, gets into endless and vexatious law suits, and 
ends his career a bankrupt — a striking and practical exemplification of the folly of his 
rule of action. And that nation who would adopt for its government such a maxim, 
and contend for every thing which it thought was hers, would only on a larger scale ex- 
hibit the folly and madness of the principle of its government, would lose infinitely more 
than it would gain — be involved in interminable and bloody wars. God deliver this 
people from rulers whose administration would be based on principles so foolish, and 
which would prove so disastrous in consequence. This question is emphatically and 
peculiarly one for adjustment by negotiation, not by arms. No man contends that we 
•can take and maintain Oregon by the sword, without an enormous increase of the stand- 
ing army and navy, and incurring a debt of more than two hundred millions of dollars, 
besides the loss of many of the lives of your best and bravest citizens. And suppose 
youdetermine to have the "whole or none," and to fight for the whole, and you commence 
that war, and through long years of heavy and oppressive taxation, through countless 
exhausting and bloody battles, till the very earth and the seas are red with the blood of 
your children, still you must arrange the controversy at last by negotiation — by treaty. 
The people and their voice is omnipotent here. The people of England are not voice- 
less now on questions in which their interests, their lives, and property are involved; 
and they, the great body of the people of both countries, do not desire a war each with 
the other, let restless and aspiring rulers plot and plan as they do for their own ag- 
grandizement, they will not suffer themselves to be involved in all the horrors and 
losses which that war will produce. * 

Sir, this question ought to be settled by negotiation. How much we ought to claim 
must be left to the treaty-making power ; and expression, at this stage of the contro- 
Tersy, might only embarrass the President, and do more harm than good. I be- 
lieve no time will ever come for an honorable and amicable settlement of this question 
rpore auspicious than the present. And the considerations which 1 have presented 
have induced the opinion, on my mind, that it can be settled by negotiation, and that 
there will be no war, unless the war result from the want of' ability of the President 
■and unskilfulness of his diplomacy. If the President be what he ought to be — if 
he were far less than what the people took him for when they, by their votes, lifted 
him to that high place he now fills — a place whose honors are more to be coveted than 
*'the costliest robe which ere was wrapped lound regal limbs" — there would be no danger 
•of a war; for, in the present condition of England, without the grossest blunders on 
-our part, we need not apprehend a war, if the notice be given. These remarks have 
been made on the supposition that no new correspondence has taken place between our 
Government and Great Britain ; that the state of the question, so far as negotiation is 
concerned, is the same it was when Congress commenced ; for I cannot suppose that 
the President has received or made any proposition of settlement without communi- 
cating the same to us. It would, in my opinion, be highly reprehensible in him, when 
asking our advice on this matter, not to give us all the information in his power, but 
ask us to leap blindly, and in the dark. 

But if notice be withheld, Mr. Chairman, and that policy advocated by those op- 
posed to notice be pursued, I believe war, and the probable loss of the territory, will 
be the consequence. They say — "delay your notice; England is too strong yet; 
she is getting old ; soon she will be weak ; and then — we bide our time till then. In 
the mean time, let the treaty remain ; give no notice to terminate ; send your men — 
your hardy and bold pioneers — to cultivate the soil ; cover it with military posts, and 
garrison them with men ;" and thus, whilst the treaty stands in full force, in violation 
of its provisions, take exclusive possession of, and prepare to fight for, the whole of 
Oregon. We have been told, if notice be given, it will produce vl punic war ; but it 
seems to me if it be not given, and these suggestions followed out, we will have ulti- . 
mately a war — at least, produced by pimic faith. Sir, this policy, advocated by 
honorable gentlemen, and doubtless from a conviction of its wisdom and patriotism, is 
as wise as tliat of the foolish bird which hides its head, and supposes its body hid. 
'This policy of waiting and biding our time, is compared eloquently to the waiting of 



13 

the American eagle, preparing for its stroke. It sounded rather to my car like the 
hissing of that other emblem which (in the group of statuary above your Speaker's 
chairj attends the Goddess, and types her wisdom — rather like the hissing of a serpent. 
It had, at least, the serpent's guile, if not its wisdom. 

But, independent of bad faith and violation of national honor, wliich would result 
from the policy of the advocates of delay, war is rendered far more probable, than by 
the open, manly, and frank course urged by advocates of notice. Emigration is accu- 
mulating a papulation in Oregon, from this country and from England. It is important 
to have the rights of the respective co"ntries determined as soon as possible, because 
settlements will be made by American and English citizens in the debatable land — each 
Government will feel bound to protect its citizens; conflicting laws enforced by courts of 
conllicting jurisdiction, together with the difierence resulting from political tendencies 
and principles of two sets of occupants — one American and republican, the other English 
and monarchical — will greatly increase the probabilities of war. But time prevents me 
from dwelling on this topic. 

Besides the danger of war, let not gentlemen estimate too lightlj' the possibility of 
losing this territory by delay. 

For the purpose of attaining the same ends Great Britain and the United States pur- 
sue different courses, and none more so than in colonizing and settling distant territory. 
We send as our pioneers the bold hunter, with the rifle on his shoulder; we send the 
industrious tiller 6f the soil. The British Empire sends as her pioneers acellossal cor- 
poration, with powers of government, and its agents, servants, soldiers, trappers, 
and traders, are the only settlers ; all its acquisitions, however, of territory, enure to the 
Empire, whose agent it is. It is not important here to calculate the comparative efficiency 
of these different modes of colonization and settlement, but the past success of England, 
by a similar course in another hemisphere of the earth, warrants us at least in being on 
our guard. A hundred years ago Great Britain had chartered an East India Company, 
whose nominal business and legitimate powers were confined to a trade in tea and silk. 
Divisions and dissensions existed in the Mogul Empire, and in the midst of which an 
aged monarch, who had long held power, in the stately language of an ancient chronicler of 
his glory, breathed his last, and left the splendors of the Imperial palaces of Delhi. Those 
dissentions opened into rebellion, and the question as to whom should be his successor, 
to those palaces and power, became one of exciting interest. Little was it thought that 
a company of traders would, in behalf of a nation fifteen thousand miles distant, success- 
fully assert a claim to the dominion of East Indies. But it was asserted, and England, 
with that far seeinsr saoracitv, and that far reaching ambition, which has character- 
ized her course and gradually enlarged her power for five hundred years, commenced a 
series of etTorts of both arts and arms, which has resulted in winning for her a more ex- 
tensive and valuable territory than she has ever added to her dominions by either ancient 
or modern conquest. And now she has on the western coast of America anotlier com- 
pany, whose object and purpose is professedly to trade in furs and peltry. But, still 
holding the soil, it settles for the use of the government which gave it charter. Let no 
man say that this Hudson Bay Company, bearing, as it does, vice regal power among 
the infant settlements on the waters of the Pacific, and amid the wilderness of Oregon, 
with its forty military posts, its thousand trappers, traders, and soldiers, and its numer- 
ous Indian allies, and with that vast magazine of Indian tribes which the mad policy of 
the Government, for years past, has been increasing, and from which this company can 
draw at pleasure men for fighting or annoying the settlers. I say, let no man assert that 
this company is to be slightly estimated as an auxiliary to British ambition and British 
designs on Oregon. 

But, if this question of notice is to be kept open much longer, there will, I fear, be 
soon a party in this country for war; at present none such exists. It will be mingled 
with the strifes and excitements of another Presidential contest; and, under the inflam- 
matory appeals of party leaders, popular feeling in this country may be roused to such 
extent as to demand a war. Sir, in my opinion, it is unwise longer to delay the notice. 



14 

The constant agitation of this question, affecting as it does the probabilities of peace 
and war, must prove injurious to the prosperity of the nation. Uncertainty and doubt 
on these probabilities must produce constant and prejudicial fluctuations and changes in 
the commerce and business of the country, to prevent which, all ought to desire to 
bring this subject to an adjustment as speedily as possible. To its honorable and pa- 
cific adjustment, notice is a preliminary and necessary step. 

By refusing this notice, you do not, sir, arrest, you only increase the agitation of this 
subject. You may fold your arms, you may silence your tongue ; or you may, on the 
contrary, by the most persuasive or violent efforts, attempt to stay this question in its 
course ; but in vain. Influences and interests are at work which irresistibly hurry it on 
to a fortunate or unfortunate termination, to a peaceful or hostile issue. It is the part 
of wisdom to direct, when it cannot control the current. 

If the policy which I have advocated be pursued, peace, I trust, and firmly believe, 
will be its fruit. Should, however, after we shall have done all that brave and honora- 
ble men ought to do, to avoid the conflict, our adversary, in her arrogance and vaunted 
power, force on 'a war, then we stand acquitted ; and upon her let fall the blood and 
crime of that war, in all its accursed and damning guilt. Our ancient foe again will find 
that a united and brave people, such as ours, are always invincible. We will again 
show that we are able to maintain our honor in the field against Great Britain, and, if 
need be, against the world in arms. , 

I will not, Mr. Chairman, as some have done, make the contingency of war the pre- 
text for a high-wrought eulogy on my native State, Kentucky. Her brave people need 
no euloory. Her history in the past is her pledge for the future. The blood of her 
children, poured out upon " an hundred battle-fields" in the past war, gives the strong- 
est assurance — stronger than words — how she will bear herself again in any succeeding 
fio-ht. I can say, with perfect sincerity, for my constituents, and for Kentuckians gen- 
erally, that, though they want no war, if war come, without any reference to party dis- 
tinctions, forgetful of party divisions, remembering only the common danger and their 
common brotherhood. Democrats and Whigs, with equal patriotism and equal valor, 
will stand side by side, ready to repel the foe which threatens to invade the soil ; they 
will not be the last to go, or the first to quit the field. 



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